


The End is Near

by Soawksahm (socawkSAHM)



Series: Nalu Week Oneshots [4]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: End, F/M, angsty fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 05:18:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7421494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/socawkSAHM/pseuds/Soawksahm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The end of End?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The End is Near

Lucy groaned, then she slowly shifted her body on its side and coughed, her eyes tightly shut. It was so hot, so unbearably hot that it took her breath away. Then the gentle sounds of dripping water and falling pebbles were broken by a terrifying roar. Her eyes shot open followed by a cringe as the pain in her head and leg pulsed along with her heart, each beat more painful than the last.

She fought through the fog that clouded her mind to try and assess her situation. Large chunks of dark stone and red light, broad shadows and a starless sky. She looked down at her leg and a wave of nausea washed through her, making her mouth water in a most unpleasant way. Her leg shouldn't turn that way, her skin shouldn't be that color. Unable to fight it any longer, she emptied the contents of her stomach onto the cold, hard ground beside her.

Another wave of pain and the tears came, sobs fighting their way out of her chest. Another roar. She clenched her teeth and fought to control herself, then began dragging her body around the massive boulder blocking her view. In this state she would not be able to fight and she was so drained she wasn't sure that she would be able to open any gates. Lucy needed to see the of the source of the sound, whatever made that sound could be her end.

The slow torturous pulls towards the roar were agony, but she fought through the pain and the fear. She had to know what she was up against, she had to find the others. Her short term memory was still hazy, flashes of cognition slipping in and out like wisps of smoke. Still, she was sure that she couldn't be alone, he had promised not to ever leave her alone again.

She was almost there and the sound rang out once more. Lucy couldn't help it, her anxiety froze her body and she had to cover her mouth to hold in her terrified scream. Maybe she didn't want to see it, maybe she didn't want to know. Maybe this rock was her safety and she could lay here and wait. Her brain threw reason after reason at her, slowly draining away the resolve to keep moving. She became tired and her body slowly sunk to the floor.

"Finally! Finally you are strong enough!" yelled a voice. Lucy furrowed her brow, trying to process who it might belong to. "Natsu kill me! Natsu be my demise!"

Lucy's eyes widened, Natsu! She had to get to him, her crawl began again. However, what she found when she pulled around her obstacle shocked and confused her. That was not Natsu, that could not be Natsu! Dark curled horns protruded from an unruly red mane and large webbed wings jutted from its back. Dark marks twisted up and around the muscular torso, curling down the arms into large hands with long claws. Its eyes were crimson anger and the teeth that framed its snarl were large and sharp.

The target of its rageful screams was not afraid but exhilarated. Zeref smiled maniacally, his eyes were madness. "Come at me Natsu!"

The monster screamed fire at the dark wizard and Lucy saw it. The posture, the roar, it was her Natsu. The tears that fell now were silent, her friend, her love, her sweet teammate had transformed into something of nightmares. This must be End.

Natsu shot forward, his flaming fists taking Zeref in the gut, but Zeref bounced back easily. Natsu was thrown with a mere motion of the dark mage's fingers. Zeref grinned, "Is that all you got? You'll have to do better than that!" Natsu roared in rage.

Lucy covered her ears. She needed to think, she needed to ignore this pain and get to Natsu. Killing Zeref meant death for himself. Natsu screamed again and went at the dark wizard even harder, this time going the whole way down with him. He punched Zeref's face over and over, and the wizard just laughed. The sight made Lucy feel sick to her stomach.

Lucy didn't have time to think, she did they only thing she was capable of, she crawled and called his name. It was frustratingly slow, shuffle, shuffle, "Natsu!", shuffle, shuffle, "Natsu!" She screamed with all her might but her voice was just a strained rasp.

It felt hopeless but Lucy kept trying. She was halfway there when finally she got his attention. His head snapped in her direction and there was no recognition in his eyes. She trembled at his gaze but still pulled herself a little bit closer. He had to be in there somewhere, he said he wouldn't leave her.

"I don't know how you are still moving but it's too late! He doesn't know you anymore," Zeref declared triumphantly. Hearing his voice, Natsu returned his attention to his target, resuming the endless pummeling.

Lucy wanted to cry, she couldn't keep this up. She tried again, one more slow pull closer and a weak call of "Natsu!"

Natsu turned to her again and this time it made Zeref angry. "Shut your mouth celestial mage!" He threw out dark magic in her direction, and as if it was slow motion she saw death look in her direction. There was nothing left, no energy to defend or escape. She collapsed to the ground, covered her head, and shut her eyes tight, waiting for her end. It never came, at least not in the way she thought it would.

"What the hell are you doing?" exclaimed Zeref.

Lucy slowly opened her eyes. Natsu stood in front of her, defending her with his body. He snarled at Zeref and then gave the strongest roar of fire that Lucy had ever seen. Then he turned back to Lucy with concerned green eyes. He ran a claw down her injured leg and his face twisted in painful sympathy. Then he looked back up to her face, "Lucy?"

"Natsu, you have to stop, you can't kill him!" she tried.

"Pay attention to your opponent Natsu," came Zeref's voice.

"Natsu where is everyone? Where's Gray? Where's Erza?" Lucy asked frantically.

Natsu looked at the dark mage who was slowly regaining his footing and then back at Lucy. He wrinkled his brow and frowned. "Lucy," he said a little more softly this time. Then instead of responding to Zeref, he gently pulled Lucy into his arms and unfurled his dark sinewy wings.

They shot into the sky flying up so fast that Lucy lost her breath. She didn't know where Natsu was going but it didn't matter, there was safety in his arms. Zeref began screaming in rage, a dark cloud swirled around him and the ground beneath him rumbled.

Lucy was about to look away, the desire to hide her face in Natsu was overwhelming, but something caught her eye. Fairy Tail, her entire guild, stood holding hands, creating a large circle with Sabertooth, Lamia Scale, Mermaid, Blue Pegasus, and all the other guilds that had been aiding in holding off Alvarez's attack. Their eyes were closed and they pooled their magic together, glittering light began growing from their connections flowing towards the center and the dark mage between them.

Natsu seemed to not notice them. He flew on holding her close, as if his only thought was to get her to safety. Even when the light became so bright that Lucy had to close her eyes he didn't waver.

When the light subsided, Lucy opened her eyes and ventured a look at the ground below. Zeref was frozen mid-spell, trapped by glittering lacrima. All around him burst cheers and sounds of celebration. The mages all hugged and jumped. Lucy stared in disbelief, waiting for the dark mage's prison to crack, waiting for him to somehow attack again.

Natsu kept flying, but she felt him stutter. She looked up at his face and it was wrinkled with concern. His green eyes looked gentler, more like Natsu, but full of pain.

He caught her watching him and he grinned, his teeth back to usual size. "Sorry Luce, it looks like we're in for a rough landing."

He turned them downwards to began his descent, struggling on wings that no longer seemed to be following his brains commands. They were almost to the ground when the wings disappeared completely. With a grunt, Natsu pulled them around so that he would take the brunt of the fall. They landed with a bounce and a skid, and his face contorted with pain but he held her close. Lucy cried out when her leg bounced against his, unable to restrain the sound as sharp agony shot out from her wound. When their fall came to an end they just lay there, both struggling to breathe. Lucy was able to roll onto the ground next to him and take her weight off of his chest, she probably felt heavy after all.

Natsu scanned her face and frowned, "Sorry, I should have taken you to Wendy. I don't know where she is."

Lucy choked out a laugh and whispered, "Don't worry about me right now!"

"Kay," he breathed out. He closed his eyes, exhausted from the fall, the fight, the transformation.

The sound of their guildmates calling for them started to reach Lucy's ears and she smiled. She had nothing left in her to call back but she knew that they would find them. They would be okay. Lucy snuggled into Natsu's chest and finally allowed herself to rest. It was finally over, it was finally the end.


End file.
